Hey fitness lovers! My name is Val and I’m a 22-year-old student at Northeastern University who leads a busy life both in and outside of Boston. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been overweight. But unlike most overweight people, I have never lost my confidence. While I am ashamed of how unhealthy I became, I am proud that I have embraced the opportunity to fix it. In the past, I have tried going to the gym but just couldn’t stick with it. After reevaluating my life towards the end of last year, I decided that when I started this final co-op cycle, I was going to start something else too: my new life.
After leaving my job interview last fall at Reservoir Place in Waltham, I noticed that there was a FitCorp right in the building, which sparked my interest. And after starting my job in January, one of the first emails I received was to sign up for FitCorp’s “Ultimate Loser Challenge.” Instantly, I was intrigued. I knew that having a fire lit under me and having teammates depending on my weight loss would motivate me. I started this challenge at the heaviest weight I’ve ever been and have lost 20 lbs in two months, which has already brought my BMI down nearly 3 percent. My goal for this six-month co-op cycle is to lose at least 40 lbs (hopefully more!) and my long-term goal is to lose 70 lbs by the end of the year (of course toning myself along the way).
Since the challenge started, I have been attending two training classes a week along side other Ultimate Loser competitors, but have also been meeting with the trainer on my own once a week. The trainers/staff at FitCorp in Waltham are great and always willing to help! I’m at the gym Monday through Friday every week. On days when I’m not in a fitness class (and even some days when I am) I try to do at least 45 minutes to an hour on an elliptical and then various weight training on machines.
Throughout the weeks of the Ultimate Loser Challenge, I have attended these classes: Power of Speed (spinning and weights), Circuit City (circuit weight training), Highway to Bell (kettlebell training), Do you think you can ply? (plyometrics), and Core til you Crawl (core training). I love it! Having different classes every week that focus on different aspects of fitness has been really informative for me. I now know that when these classes are through, I’d love to take a spinning class and that if I want to burn a quick 600-800 calories, I can swing around a kettle bell for 30 minutes.
I’ve also started the “Couch to 5K” running training program. Running is something that I’ve never been good at due to a knee problem. This program starts you off slow and gradually introduces running for long periods of time, something that seemed realistically achievable to me. Eventually, once I start to become a better runner, I would love to set my sights on completing a half marathon.
Being a part of this challenge has changed my life. I decided early on that exercising was not enough and that I needed to count calories and eat healthier too. I found some online tools and started a new life of eating right and exercising. Every week I shop for fresh foods and cook healthy meals that I weigh out and portion correctly. I have learned about how to get out of plateaus and zig-zagging calories. And the most informative thing of all was the knowledge that eating too little can stunt your weight loss and ultimately slow down your metabolism. I’m finally losing weight the healthy way and I feel good about myself and have a lot more energy!
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